Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[THE_WIZARD_]

Mmmmmmm....runzas.

[madootra]

Just heard about them today, while eating a pasty that somebody brought me from the U.P.

Pasty > Runza

[hack]

Carbs wrapped around meat? Why split hairs? It's a winning formula every time...

[entropy]

Carbs wrapped around meat? Why split hairs? It's a winning formula every time...

So many comments.... So many comments...

[entropy]

The Nebraska wrestling program Tuesday was honored for having the top team grade-point average in NCAA Division I, with five Huskers earning Academic All-America honors.

Nebraska's five individual honorees were the most of any school.

Senior Tucker Lane earned his fourth national honor with a 3.94 GPA, the fourth highest in the country, tied with sophomore teammate Michael Klinginsmith of Kearney. Lane, an undeclared master's student, will be going to law school in the fall. Klinginsmith is a biological sciences major.

Junior Josh Ihnen, who was an All-American at the NCAA Championships after finishing eighth at 184 pounds, earned his third academic honor after graduating with a degree in finance.

Senior James Nakashima (political science) and redshirt freshman Skylar Galloway (international business) joined Klinginsmith as first-time honorees.

The Huskers' aggregate 3.46 GPA was the third-highest in the history of the annual Top 30 list compiled by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Harvard was second (3.38), followed by American, Utah Valley and Indiana. Minnesota (24th), Ohio State (25th), Penn State (26th) and Purdue (28th) were the other Big Ten schools on the list.

The team GPA is made up of 12 student-athletes, 10 of whom are the entries for the NCAA Tournament conference qualifier from each team.

Briefly

*The U.S. freestyle Olympic wrestling team, which includes former Husker Jordan Burroughs and former Nebraska-Kearney standout Tervel Dlagnev, will compete against another nation's team on June 7 in New York's Times Square.

It's the second straight year the U.S. has hosted a wrestling match in Times Square. The U.S. beat Russia 5-2 in 2011 behind victories from World Championship medalists Burroughs (gold) and Jake Varner (silver), who are scheduled to return for the event.

A challenge featuring top U.S. wrestlers was held in 2010 on the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier docked on the west side of Manhattan.

The event will be part of a fundraiser for the Beat the Streets wrestling program for middle and high school students in New York City.

[entropy]

As Nebraska continues to settle into the Big Ten Conference, it just might get some help from a former Big 12 Conference player along the way.

Former Texas Tech sophomore-to-be wing Terran Petteway confirmed to HuskerOnline.com on Wednesday that he is visiting Lincoln on Friday and could possibly transfer to NU if all goes well.


TexasTech.com
Nebraska coach Tim Miles recruited Terran Petteway at Colorado State, and now may finally get him at Nebraska.
Petteway was a three-star recruit out of Galveston, Texas, who committed to the Red Raiders under former coach Pat Knight. The connection to Nebraska comes from the fact that Nebraska coach Tim Miles recruited and offered a scholarship to Petteway out of Galveston Ball High School when he was at Colorado State.

"They've been recruiting me since I was in high school, and I always loved them," Petteway said of Miles and his staff. "They were one of the first schools to call when I left (Texas Tech), and we set that up real quick to go take a visit (to Nebraska) and see how it is."

Under new head coach Billy Gillispie this past season, the 6-foot-6, 185-pounder played in 28 games as a true freshman, including 11 starts, and averaged 3.1 points and 2.0 rebounds.

"I didn't fit in too well with the system, and I just wanted a new start, man," Petteway said.

He would have four years to play three if he does transfer to Nebraska, and would obviously have to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Huskers currently have two open scholarships for the 2012-13 season.

Petteway was one of the top prep players in the state of Texas by his senior year at Galveston Ball, as he was a two-time all-state and all-district selection and led the Tornadoes to four district championships.

As a senior, Petteway averaged 27 points, nine rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. His play earned him a long offer list from schools across the country, including Clemson, Colorado, Penn State, Creighton, Ole Miss, Oregon and others.

Those who watched him play at Texas Tech last season describe Petteway as a player willing to do the dirty work on the court and also capable of hitting the 3 - he shot 30.0 percent from beyond the arc for the Red Raiders last season.

Petteway described himself as an aggressive player on both ends of the floor who tries to exploit any match-ups he can on the court.

"I think I bring a lot of intensity on defense," he said. "I can score in transition and fast breaks. I think that's what I bring. I'm a versatile player. I can post up when a have a smaller player on me, and I can go to the wing when I have a bigger player on me."

Petteway will travel to Lincoln on Friday, and his parents will follow him up on Saturday.

He hasn't taken any other visits to other schools, and doesn't have any more planned after his trip to Nebraska.

"This is my first one, and hopefully my last," Petteway said. "They're No. 1 for me right now."

HuskerOnline.com asked Petteway straight up that assuming he likes what he sees at NU, would he commit to the Huskers before he left back to Texas on Sunday:

"Yes sir."

[entropy]

http://www.gamedayvote.com/return.html

Race is between UNL and A$M... Hopefully the SEC doesn't pull this out..

[entropy]

By Randy York

Leaving work Friday evening, I looked at the south wall in my office before turning out the light and happened to catch a glimpse of Bob Devaney. He was looking straight at me from the personally signed, limited-edition portrait I once bought at a silent auction. The print, a tribute to Nebraska’s legendary coach, shows Devaney among the clouds and rather majestically portrays him hovering over another full house at Memorial Stadium. The 2x3-foot print is hand-signed in gold and served as a friendly reminder not to let this week conclude without reflecting back on the life and times of one Robert S. Devaney, the Hall-of-Fame coach with a quick Irish wit, a brilliant coaching mind and a legacy so gigantic it always will live deep in the hearts of all true-blue Big Red fans.

Coach Devaney died in a Lincoln retirement home on May 8, 1997, prompting many of us to remember the man who planted the seeds for Nebraska’s unequaled, unmatched and unprecedented half century of college football excellence. I use those superlatives in the same sentence to drive home a simple fact – Nebraska may be located in Middle America, but no one’s even come close to the Cornhuskers’ level of consistency at Memorial Stadium, the only facility in the history of college football that’s been sold out for 50 consecutive years. The magic Devaney brought to Lincoln enabled an amazing Nebraska turnaround.

The charts below, the result of research compiled by Joe Hudson, tell a fascinating story. Hudson, who retired from his job as a Denver Post copy editor to devote his full-time talents to HuskerMax.com, shares this information with the N-Sider not only to explain Devaney’s legacy, but also to help me reinforce the theme of that valued print hanging in my office with this perfect caption:

He Built It … And They Came

They came in droves … 23,706,977 Husker fans over the last 49 years and seven more consecutive sellouts coming to The House that Bob Built this fall. Yes, Devaney’s arrival was straight out of a Hollywood script – one that no one could believe. Yet here we are, 50 years later, counting down a football season like rock-N-rollers counting down hits on American Bandstand or Dick Clark counting down New Year’s Eve at Times Square. The late Bob Devaney is, was and always will be as iconic to Nebraska as the late Dick Clark was to America. Neither legend will ever leave the collective psyches of all of us who grew up with them.

Please consider The House That Bob Built and what he inherited the minute he set foot in Lincoln. From 1941 to 1961, here were the teams with the most losses in all of college football for those two decades: 1) Kansas State, 152 losses; 2) Nebraska, 125; 3) Idaho, 117; 4-5) Columbia and Montana, 116 each; 6) North Carolina State, 115; 7) Richmond, 114; 8) New Mexico State, 113; 9-10) Indiana and Brigham Young, 111 each.

Now look at the teams with the most wins in college football over the past 50 years since Devaney arrived in Lincoln: 1) Nebraska, 480 (78.969 percent); 2) Oklahoma, 440; 3) Penn State, 437; 4) Texas, 427; 5) Ohio State, 425; 6-7) Alabama and Michigan 422 each; 8) Southern Cal, 413; 9) Florida, 408; 10-tie) Georgia and Tennessee, 400 each.

Mind-boggling, isn’t it? Nebraska goes from the second worst team in the country from 1941-61 to the nation’s best team for the next 50 years (1961-2011). Let the record show that the early stages of Nebraska’s amazing bounce back is chronicled mostly in black-and-white, followed by techni-color and now, of course, high-definition. How, you might ask, can something so revolutionary happen so quickly? The most astute Nebraska fans with a penchant for history know which game Devaney targeted and used to re-chart the course of a program mired in mediocrity. In just his second game as Nebraska’s head coach, Devaney’s Cornhuskers beat Michigan at the Big House. That Sept. 29, 1962 game in his home state became the catalyst for Nebraska to transform itself from a program that had lost 125 games in the previous two decades to one that has made an unparalleled college football run with 480 wins since.

Nebraska deserves a gold record for its 50 years of unrivaled and unsurpassed excellence. It all began with Devaney’s arrival and was classically reinforced when he bypassed friends who were closer to him on the staff so he could pass the torch to Tom Osborne, his hand-picked successor. In my opinion, a No. 15 Devaney is a few spots lower than he should be in the Bleacher Report’s Top 50 College Football Coaches of All Time. Multi-media writers who’ve built an audience of almost 30 million unique monthly visitors are entitled to their opinions, but so am I, and I would submit that Osborne, even at No. 3 is a spot or two below where he belongs. But I gladly settle for where he ended up on this list – behind No. 1 Paul “Bear” Bryant and No. 2 Knute Rockne … not exactly bad company to be in.

I can’t imagine what Nebraska football would be like if Devaney had not left his Michigan State assistant’s job to become head coach at Wyoming and then sneak into Lincoln under a cloak of secrecy five years later. In Sunday’s N-Sider Blog we will, in fact, reveal a secret that’s been kept under wraps for half a century but will become an historic footnote for a man that I believe deserves long-overdue credit for Nebraska landing Devaney. His name will surprise you. It may even shock you, so check back with us before Sunday gets too far away from you.

[Rob F]

8 + ) = 8)

[entropy]

By Randy York

Let me say this up front. I’ve been sitting on this story for a month, not because it lacks interest or even a high level of intrigue. It qualifies both ways. Waiting a month is a mere flash when insiders have known this story for 50 years but never saw the need to identify the mover/shaker who played a major role in changing the course of Nebraska football history. This story centers on someone who stood up to the University of Nebraska’s chancellor 50 years ago, made an emphatic point, influenced a pivotal decision and a half century later, the N-Sider would like to thank this individual publicly for doing what he did. He’s a former Nebraska Football and College Football Hall-of-Famer and served three terms as a member of the University of Nebraska’s Board of Regents. But before we reveal his name, let me acknowledge the intrinsic power of blogging because that’s what solved this mystery. The answer came in one simple email. That’s all it took – just one look at an N-Sider Blog that described Tippy Dye as a real gentleman following his recent death in Northern California at age 97.

Dye was the athletic director when Nebraska hired Bob Devaney as its head football coach in 1962. Dye’s role got blurred in that hiring because Devaney wasn’t even one of the top three choices on Dye’s original priority chart. When those names fell off the table, Dye appeared ready to pursue a head coach who reported to him when he was athletic director at Wichita State. That incensed our mystery man, who heroically approached then Nebraska Chancellor Dr. Clifford Hardin, telling him in no uncertain terms that the Huskers needed a head football coach with experience at a much higher level than Wichita State, especially if the Huskers were going to turn around a program that had won just 15 of its last 50 games. Nebraska Sports Information Director Emeritus Don Bryant acknowledged that story in the Dye blog linked above, but he would not mention the regent’s name because, well, that’s been the protocol for 50 years. Fair enough, I thought. Why push something that’s been kept under such wraps all these years?

The day after we published that blog on Huskers.com, I got an email. “I enjoyed the article on Tippy Dye, and I do know who the regent was who worked with Cliff Harden (on Devaney’s hiring),” it said. The email came from Kathryn Druliner, so I emailed her back and asked if she was willing to share the regent’s name. “The mystery regent was my father, Clarence Swanson. He played football for Nebraska and is in the National College Football Hall of Fame. His great grandsons are the Ruud boys. Thanks. Kathryn Swanson Druliner.” I was in my office, and all I could do when I read that was shake my head and think to myself: ‘Clarence Swanson was the tough guy who’d seen enough and wasn’t going to take it anymore? Are you kidding me?’” I couldn’t put my fingers back on the computer fast enough. “Thanks for your email,” I wrote back to Kathyrn. “Where do you live and do I have your permission to use this information?” She was understandably taken aback. “We live in Lincoln,” she emailed. “You can print something, but I didn’t mean to make a big deal out of this. He’s been gone so long. I don’t know who would pay much attention now.”

She’s probably right. Her dad died at age 72 on Dec. 3, 1970, eight years after he effectively intervened in a hiring process that was going nowhere fast. Even though the younger generation isn’t much into the formative process that laid the foundation for Nebraska’s remarkable football history, some of us find it hard not to get excited about something like this, especially since Clarence E. “Swanny” Swanson was a trailblazer who played for the Huskers and was the team’s only captain in 1921, two years before Memorial Stadium was built. Tom Ruud, a first-team All-America linebacker and first-round NFL draft choice, married the late Jaime Swanson, Kathryn’s daughter. Son Barrett Ruud, a third-team All-America linebacker and second-round NFL draft choice, was Nebraska’s defensive captain in 2004. His brother, Bo Ruud, a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker and three-year Husker starter, was a Nebraska captain three years later. Their uncle, Bob Martin, was a Nebraska captain in 1975 after earning first-team All-America honors as a defensive end. Another uncle, John Ruud, lettered two years at linebacker and often shows up on Nebraska’s high-def scoreboards because of his jarring tackle on the second-half kickoff that set the tone for the Huskers’ 17-14 upset of No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in 1978.

When Clarence Swanson made his decision to get involved in a process that elevated the candidates and led to Devaney’s hiring, he was doing it for his alma mater and the tradition he wanted to see re-emerge from the only school that beat Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen twice. Here’s betting he never dreamed so many members of his own family would be primary benefactors. And since he died less than a month before Nebraska won the first of its five national championships and never saw Tom Osborne coach any of his 255 wins, “Swanny” wouldn’t know the true magnitude of a decision that he so gallantly served and saved. What he clearly understood, however, was how he helped create an identity and since his intervention lifted the standards higher than he ever imagined, we think he deserves an even more special place in Nebraska history than he already had.

[entropy]

By Randy York

Let me say this up front. I?ve been sitting on this story for a month, not because it lacks interest or even a high level of intrigue. It qualifies both ways. Waiting a month is a mere flash when insiders have known this story for 50 years but never saw the need to identify the mover/shaker who played a major role in changing the course of Nebraska football history. This story centers on someone who stood up to the University of Nebraska?s chancellor 50 years ago, made an emphatic point, influenced a pivotal decision and a half century later, the N-Sider would like to thank this individual publicly for doing what he did. He?s a former Nebraska Football and College Football Hall-of-Famer and served three terms as a member of the University of Nebraska?s Board of Regents. But before we reveal his name, let me acknowledge the intrinsic power of blogging because that?s what solved this mystery. The answer came in one simple email. That?s all it took ? just one look at an N-Sider Blog that described Tippy Dye as a real gentleman following his recent death in Northern California at age 97.

Dye was the athletic director when Nebraska hired Bob Devaney as its head football coach in 1962. Dye?s role got blurred in that hiring because Devaney wasn?t even one of the top three choices on Dye?s original priority chart. When those names fell off the table, Dye appeared ready to pursue a head coach who reported to him when he was athletic director at Wichita State. That incensed our mystery man, who heroically approached then Nebraska Chancellor Dr. Clifford Hardin, telling him in no uncertain terms that the Huskers needed a head football coach with experience at a much higher level than Wichita State, especially if the Huskers were going to turn around a program that had won just 15 of its last 50 games. Nebraska Sports Information Director Emeritus Don Bryant acknowledged that story in the Dye blog linked above, but he would not mention the regent?s name because, well, that?s been the protocol for 50 years. Fair enough, I thought. Why push something that?s been kept under such wraps all these years?

The day after we published that blog on Huskers.com, I got an email. ?I enjoyed the article on Tippy Dye, and I do know who the regent was who worked with Cliff Harden (on Devaney?s hiring),? it said. The email came from Kathryn Druliner, so I emailed her back and asked if she was willing to share the regent?s name. ?The mystery regent was my father, Clarence Swanson. He played football for Nebraska and is in the National College Football Hall of Fame. His great grandsons are the Ruud boys. Thanks. Kathryn Swanson Druliner.? I was in my office, and all I could do when I read that was shake my head and think to myself: ?Clarence Swanson was the tough guy who?d seen enough and wasn?t going to take it anymore? Are you kidding me??? I couldn?t put my fingers back on the computer fast enough. ?Thanks for your email,? I wrote back to Kathyrn. ?Where do you live and do I have your permission to use this information?? She was understandably taken aback. ?We live in Lincoln,? she emailed. ?You can print something, but I didn?t mean to make a big deal out of this. He?s been gone so long. I don?t know who would pay much attention now.?

She?s probably right. Her dad died at age 72 on Dec. 3, 1970, eight years after he effectively intervened in a hiring process that was going nowhere fast. Even though the younger generation isn?t much into the formative process that laid the foundation for Nebraska?s remarkable football history, some of us find it hard not to get excited about something like this, especially since Clarence E. ?Swanny? Swanson was a trailblazer who played for the Huskers and was the team?s only captain in 1921, two years before Memorial Stadium was built. Tom Ruud, a first-team All-America linebacker and first-round NFL draft choice, married the late Jaime Swanson, Kathryn?s daughter. Son Barrett Ruud, a third-team All-America linebacker and second-round NFL draft choice, was Nebraska?s defensive captain in 2004. His brother, Bo Ruud, a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker and three-year Husker starter, was a Nebraska captain three years later. Their uncle, Bob Martin, was a Nebraska captain in 1975 after earning first-team All-America honors as a defensive end. Another uncle, John Ruud, lettered two years at linebacker and often shows up on Nebraska?s high-def scoreboards because of his jarring tackle on the second-half kickoff that set the tone for the Huskers? 17-14 upset of No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in 1978.

When Clarence Swanson made his decision to get involved in a process that elevated the candidates and led to Devaney?s hiring, he was doing it for his alma mater and the tradition he wanted to see re-emerge from the only school that beat Notre Dame?s Four Horsemen twice. Here?s betting he never dreamed so many members of his own family would be primary benefactors. And since he died less than a month before Nebraska won the first of its five national championships and never saw Tom Osborne coach any of his 255 wins, ?Swanny? wouldn?t know the true magnitude of a decision that he so gallantly served and saved. What he clearly understood, however, was how he helped create an identity and since his intervention lifted the standards higher than he ever imagined, we think he deserves an even more special place in Nebraska history than he already had.

[UMStan White]

Some old Nebraska friends who knew Devaney say he was a two fisted drinker, hard partier, and a womanizer. They don't say this to malign him (nor do I ) but to praise him. They say he was a personality that the Old Guard at Nebraska had never seen before. Great story about him. I certainly knew he was immensely successful at Nebraska but i had no idea Nebraska was so bad before he came.

[entropy]

He was exactly what UNL needed at the time. He was a promoter and a guy who could get people excited. He changed more than just the football program... He changed the state.


UNL was good until the 40's. The 50's were probably UNL's lowest point.

[entropy]

Michigan St won a close one and Northwestern had a guy thrown out at home plate in the 9th inning to lose to Indiana 2-1. Penn St finished a sweep of Illinois, staying in 2nd place, and all of this kept NU in a tie for 4th place. One game out of 2nd place though.

NU plays @ Michigan next weekend (which beat Purdue today in the last Big 10 game at their old rickity stadium).

Michigan St hosts Penn St in a huge series, and Indiana hosts Ohio St, with Indiana red shot and Ohio St trying to stay in the top 6 and make the tournament.

Will be a very interesting weekend next weekend.

Team Record Pct. Record Pct.
1. Purdue 16-5 .762 39-10 .796
2. Penn State 13-8 .619 27-24 .529
Indiana 13-8 .619 26-26 .500
4. Michigan State 12-9 .571 33-17 .660
Nebraska 12-9 .571 32-19 .627
6. Ohio State 11-10 .524 30-22 .577
7. Minnesota 10-11 .476 28-25 .528
8. Illinois 9-12 .429 26-24 .520
9. Iowa 8-13 .381 20-26 .435
10. Michigan 7-14 .333 21-31 .404
11. Northwestern 6-18 .250 17-33 .340

[entropy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JJQoGGPfBY"]iPad at Practice - YouTube[/ame]